Previous studies of a similar ilk, like the Stern Review, have incorporated social benefits to partially offset the cost of scaling up energy efficient and clean technologies. In contrast, the latest McKinsey report considers only technology-related costs and attaches a figure to the cost of green initiatives in China.

So what is the final damage? While costs are negative for upgrades in some industries, like buildings, due to the savings generated from energy efficiency improvements, a total 1.5-2 trillion yuan (USD 220-295 billion) would have to be spent every year until 2030 in order to reach McKinsey’s alternative scenario.

Read more of this story »

Kristen von Hoffmann, Founder of Greenfox Schools

Green Businesses are hotter than ever and even in the worst of economies, Ecopreneurs are looking for ways to get get funded and bring their dreams to fruition. However when it comes to the business of K-12 education, it can be challenging to get the show on the road. It helps of course to have a solid business plan and passion to carry out your mission.

Ecopreneurist recently had the opportunity to interview Kristen von Hoffmann, the president and founder of Greenfox Schools, a consulting company that provides schools with cutting edge environmental technology, products and programs to help them go green. A member of K-12 Sector Team for the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, Kristen bases her company on the Greenfox5, a strategy she developed that defines the five main functional points of optimization for any building as Energy, Waste Disposal, Food, Products, and Greenspace. Passionate about her mission, her is what she had to say to us.

EP: What is Greenfox Schools? When did you begin it?  Why?

KVH: Greenfox Schools is a start-up company founded in March 2008, with the aim of helping schools go green. We are currently a team of 8 people. I was inspired to work on Greenfox when I started teaching elementary school, after I finished college in 2006.

As a Yale undergraduate I was part of the then fledgling Yale Sustainable Food Project (YSFP), which has since grown into a thriving model for campus sustainability nationwide.

Read more of this story »

Likewise, the masses see the greening of America, but don’t yet trust that this is a trend here to stay. According to Korhan, there are two things that can happen that could give our current green trend a huge push forward. One is a serious event, such as a severe water shortage or other environmental disaster. The other is for all of us dedicated to the preservation of the earth to join together and form a grassroots effort to educate others.

Yes, there IS hope for your SUV driving, energy wasting neighbor!

EP: How does your experience teaching influence the Greenfox mission?

KVH: I believe in teaching children about the five senses -  sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. I believe in incorporating sensory orientation into subject teaching as much as possible. I believe that children are naturally inclined towards this direction, more so perhaps than adults. By teaching them to explicitly engage their senses in the fullest way possible, children learn to be more self-aware, and more aware of others’ needs.  A child who is tuned in to the world around him develops compassion and a sharpened sense of understanding.

Ultimately this process helps my students develop stronger interpersonal skills, because they understand the depth of interconnectedness among people, and eventually, among industries, economies, and cultures.

The truth about globalization, including depletion of natural resources, will require that the most intelligent decisions pay attention to both the details and the big picture, and find as much of a balance as possible. That’s what sustainability is all about.

It is my experience as a teacher that sensory orientation allows decision-makers to feel as well as think.

I realize now, more than ever, the importance of schools as community-educators, a topic I recently wrote about for our blog. Schools educate their communities because children are connected to families and parents, who are in turn connected to various industries and cultures. And so the network grows.

EP: Is “Gree” a trend in schools? Is “Sustainability” a trend?

KVH: This is a great question. It is true that “green” is catching on in schools, particularly because children are interested in and sensitive to the issues of global warming, and because many teachers are activists or passionate about change in their own right. However, I would not call it a trend because that suggests it might be a passing vogue.

The sustainability movement or green revolution is here to stay because the overuse of resources—which is at the heart of the environmental problem—is a problem that affects every person, and cannot be easily reversed. Furthermore, as the definition of sustainability suggests, environmental degradation is intrinsically linked to all economic sectors, and all parts of the world. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest to create systems that can sustain themselves over long periods of time and with minimal harm to the planet.

EP: Please describe your program - is it more “Green Building” focused?  Or “Green Education”focused? Or does it help schools to go green in their administrative practices?

KVH: Greenfox is both Green Building focused and Green Education focused.

Our audits look at the building design and internal systems and make recommendations for service providers and products. We do not, however, implement the physical building changes, meaning we do not install actual solar panels or plant green roofs.

We also design our own sustainability curriculum, and have programs that teach students, teachers, and administrators how to implement a sustainability initiative, such as how to run a school-wide composting system, how to run an energy-efficient classroom, and how to implement a school-wide sustainability pledge.

EP: How many schools have you visited vs. how many are you targeting? Public schools? Private schools? National Schools? International schools?

KVH: Since our inception in March last year, we have worked with 3 private schools, and consulted informally with 14 schools, public and private included. We are working directly with schools in the Boston area, but educators read our blog across the country, and we receive e-mails and requests from schools nationwide.

Last May we conducted a Greenfox Schools National Market Survey, in which we polled hundreds of teachers, administrators, and educators across the country on the subject of greening schools. We were excited by the results that suggested a large percent are highly interested in sustainability. Teachers repeatedly noted that they want to make change but feel like they don’t know where to start or where to get the resources for their classrooms. Similarly, administrators responded that they didn’t know where to start in the process of “greening” their school, but wanted to make change happen through green building, operating systems, and student education.

Looking ahead, we’d like to help city school districts implement the Greenfox5. Our aim is to generate widespread change, and public school districts contain multiple schools.

EP: Is there a difference in perceptions or attitudes towards the importance of green education in private vs. public schools?

KVH: I have not observed a difference in attitude among public and private school teachers. Rather, students and teachers are both very excited and think going green is important. However it is harder among the administrations, because there is more red tape to cut through before schools can say “yes” and move forward with a sustainability initiative.

The good news is that it gets easier for administrators to say “yes” when they realize that a school-wide sustainability initiative not only benefits children and the environment but also saves money in the long-term.

EP: How easy or difficult is it to get teachers on board?  Who supports you in this mission? The school administration?  The State?  The Dept of Environment? Parents?

Teachers are great. Like myself, most teachers are in the classroom in the first place because they care about children and are passionate about what they do. The teachers I know give so much energy and go above and beyond what is asked of them to make life better for children. It is no surprise then that some of the greatest advocates of green schools are teachers.

Overall various people—parents, children, teachers, administrators and city officials, support us.

EP: As an Ecopreneurist, what are the challenges or benefits of your target market?

KVH: The challenge, as perhaps with any project, is getting enough people to say “yes” before we can come in and be hired to do an audit, give a presentation, or teach.

For public schools in particular, money is not always easy to come by. Budgets are drawn up early in the year, so finding money mid-way through the year to finance a sustainability initiative is difficult. Therefore, it requires planning, patience and sometimes fundraising on behalf of the schools before before they hire us.

Furthermore school green committees, comprised of parents and teachers, are popping up all over the place. The committees are great if they are open to learning how to implement sustainability in new ways. However in some cases the committees are formed to make change from the inside only without bringing in a consultant or outside research.

EP: What does an “Obama generation” of kids mean to you? How does it impact the purpose of Greenfox schools?

KVH: I love this term. The children who are raised in this generation are definitely more worldly, tech-savvy, and communications-savvy. They know what global warming is. They are ready to tell you all about the wonders of the presidential election. They love clothes. They are on Facebook. They want to save the world, and they want to have 500 friends while doing it.

In my mind, the risks of this generation are that children may become so wrapped up in technology and unauthentic forms of communication, such as texting, e-mailing, and IM’g, that genuine people skills will diminish.

It is ironic, but there is the risk that as we become more connected, we become less connected in the ways that truly matter. For example, while our blackberry allows us to stay connected to e-mail, news, and the internet 24/7, if we have it on during family-time or out to coffee with a friend then we do not allow ourselves to connect whole-heartedly to that person. We do not allow ourselves to be in the moment 100% because a part of us is ready to break that connection at any moment to read a text-message. If we are aware of that reality, though, I think we can find a healthy balance.

With this in mind, it is my goal with Greenfox to help children develop interpersonal skills through sensory orientation, and to put that in the context of sustainability.

I think it’s important for kids to realize that “environment” is not just this word you put in some box or isolated category. “Environment” is part of the greater term “sustainability,” which teaches children that the environment is connected to our homes, to our restaurants, to our banks, to our neighboring countries, and to each other as individual people.

EP: What are Greenfox’s plans for 2009?  For the ‘Obama generation’ of kids beyond 2009 ?

KVH: We plan to continue consulting at schools, performing environmental audits based on the Greenfox5, giving workshops, teaching curriculum to K-12 schools, and debuting our magazine, Greenfox Kids! in April. Growth is important to us, but we believe in starting small and doing something well before doing more.

More information about Greenfox Schools can be found at www.greenfoxschools.com

Image credit: Greenfox Schools

The stage was in the presidential palace in the heart of Paris. The speaker was the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. And he couldn’t have chosen more illustrious guests for the occasion: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and, the winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Mr Al Gore himself. After Sarkozy outlined the results of four months of negotiations on the environment, Al Gore spoke. "I want to offer my congratulations to the French people. This is the beginning of an historic process," he said. "We need a ‘Grenelle mondial,’ a Worldwide Grenelle."

In May 1968, a time of great social upheaval in France, members of opposing camps met to discuss possible solutions to the crisis. Government representatives, employers and union leaders gathered to negotiate on labor terms and conditions. The agreements signed at the outcome were later called the "Grenelle accords" after the place where the meeting was held, in the Ministry of Labor building on Grenelle street in Paris. Sarkozy launched the environmental Grenelle last Spring, using the name of the labor agreements to emphasize the multilateral democratic nature of the process.

The Grenelle, or "environmental New Deal" as it has also been called, was organized in three phases. During the first phase, six heterogeneous working groups drafted plans of action to tackle major environmental issues, including climate change and energy needs, the loss of biodiversity, and unsustainable modes of production and consumption. During the second phase the general public was invited to join in by commenting on the groups’ reports either on an Internet forum hosted by the official site, or by attending regional meetings. I wrote about the Grenelle here on Green Options, once at the beginning of the process, and a second time at the opening of the public debate.

The phase of public debate came to an end on October 14, and last week at the presidential palace Sarkozy presented the synthesis of four months of talks. But what were the results of these "unprecedented negotiations?" There were irreconcilable differences on a number of issues, but happily, agreements were reached on others. About a dozen measures will be voted on by the French parliament in early 2008. It seems as though the greatest strides were made in two areas, transportation and building. These two areas are, needless to say, chief contributors to air pollution and climate change.

For example, Sarkozy announced that the construction of new highways in France will be slowed considerably, almost ceasing altogether, while in contrast the railway network will be expanded considerably. 2000 kilometers, or around 1250 miles, of tracks will be laid, benefiting both passenger and cargo trains, and thereby eliminating around 2 million trucks from French highways by 2020.

By 2012 all new constructions in France will conform to norms of "low consumption," and by 2020 all new buildings will be net producers of energy. Regarding household electrical equipment such as televisions, stereos and kitchen appliances, as soon as alternatives are made available, the old generation inefficient models will be banned. A deadline is already set for 2010 when incandescent light bulbs and single-paned windows will be prohibited.

Sarkozy also promised that the State will lead the way by greening public buildings and government transports. So, for example, starting in 2008, all public buildings will have to increase their energy efficiency by 20%, and by 2009 all vehicles used by the state will run on cleaner energy. Those two measures may not sound very impressive, but when placed in context, they take on greater significance. Indeed, mocked by the French themselves and scorned abroad, the French administration is infamous for its unwieldy size and relentless inefficiency. But, given such dimensions, just think of what a positive impact those otherwise modest goals for energy efficiency and clean vehicles will have by reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution. Why at this rate, Paris will be on its way to becoming the cleanest capital city in the world!

Certain issues discussed during the Grenelle talks were inevitably highly controversial and often the cause of tension between the various delegates. In my next post, I’ll be taking a look at some of those hot topics. So tune in to Green Options again early next week for Part 2 on the Sarko Eco-Show.

Official Grenelle Website

President Nicolas Sarkozy

Le Monde

EP: How does your experience teaching influence the Greenfox mission?

KVH: I believe in teaching children about the five senses -  sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. I believe in incorporating sensory orientation into subject teaching as much as possible. I believe that children are naturally inclined towards this direction, more so perhaps than adults. By teaching them to explicitly engage their senses in the fullest way possible, children learn to be more self-aware, and more aware of others’ needs.  A child who is tuned in to the world around him develops compassion and a sharpened sense of understanding.

Ultimately this process helps my students develop stronger interpersonal skills, because they understand the depth of interconnectedness among people, and eventually, among industries, economies, and cultures.

The truth about globalization, including depletion of natural resources, will require that the most intelligent decisions pay attention to both the details and the big picture, and find as much of a balance as possible. That’s what sustainability is all about.

It is my experience as a teacher that sensory orientation allows decision-makers to feel as well as think.

I realize now, more than ever, the importance of schools as community-educators, a topic I recently wrote about for our blog. Schools educate their communities because children are connected to families and parents, who are in turn connected to various industries and cultures. And so the network grows.

EP: Is “Gree” a trend in schools? Is “Sustainability” a trend?

KVH: This is a great question. It is true that “green” is catching on in schools, particularly because children are interested in and sensitive to the issues of global warming, and because many teachers are activists or passionate about change in their own right. However, I would not call it a trend because that suggests it might be a passing vogue.

The sustainability movement or green revolution is here to stay because the overuse of resources—which is at the heart of the environmental problem—is a problem that affects every person, and cannot be easily reversed. Furthermore, as the definition of sustainability suggests, environmental degradation is intrinsically linked to all economic sectors, and all parts of the world. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest to create systems that can sustain themselves over long periods of time and with minimal harm to the planet.

EP: Please describe your program - is it more “Green Building” focused?  Or “Green Education”focused? Or does it help schools to go green in their administrative practices?

KVH: Greenfox is both Green Building focused and Green Education focused.

Our audits look at the building design and internal systems and make recommendations for service providers and products. We do not, however, implement the physical building changes, meaning we do not install actual solar panels or plant green roofs.

We also design our own sustainability curriculum, and have programs that teach students, teachers, and administrators how to implement a sustainability initiative, such as how to run a school-wide composting system, how to run an energy-efficient classroom, and how to implement a school-wide sustainability pledge.

EP: How many schools have you visited vs. how many are you targeting? Public schools? Private schools? National Schools? International schools?

KVH: Since our inception in March last year, we have worked with 3 private schools, and consulted informally with 14 schools, public and private included. We are working directly with schools in the Boston area, but educators read our blog across the country, and we receive e-mails and requests from schools nationwide.

Last May we conducted a Greenfox Schools National Market Survey, in which we polled hundreds of teachers, administrators, and educators across the country on the subject of greening schools. We were excited by the results that suggested a large percent are highly interested in sustainability. Teachers repeatedly noted that they want to make change but feel like they don’t know where to start or where to get the resources for their classrooms. Similarly, administrators responded that they didn’t know where to start in the process of “greening” their school, but wanted to make change happen through green building, operating systems, and student education.

Looking ahead, we’d like to help city school districts implement the Greenfox5. Our aim is to generate widespread change, and public school districts contain multiple schools.

EP: Is there a difference in perceptions or attitudes towards the importance of green education in private vs. public schools?

KVH: I have not observed a difference in attitude among public and private school teachers. Rather, students and teachers are both very excited and think going green is important. However it is harder among the administrations, because there is more red tape to cut through before schools can say “yes” and move forward with a sustainability initiative.

The good news is that it gets easier for administrators to say “yes” when they realize that a school-wide sustainability initiative not only benefits children and the environment but also saves money in the long-term.

EP: How easy or difficult is it to get teachers on board?  Who supports you in this mission? The school administration?  The State?  The Dept of Environment? Parents?

Teachers are great. Like myself, most teachers are in the classroom in the first place because they care about children and are passionate about what they do. The teachers I know give so much energy and go above and beyond what is asked of them to make life better for children. It is no surprise then that some of the greatest advocates of green schools are teachers.

Overall various people—parents, children, teachers, administrators and city officials, support us.

EP: As an Ecopreneurist, what are the challenges or benefits of your target market?

KVH: The challenge, as perhaps with any project, is getting enough people to say “yes” before we can come in and be hired to do an audit, give a presentation, or teach.

For public schools in particular, money is not always easy to come by. Budgets are drawn up early in the year, so finding money mid-way through the year to finance a sustainability initiative is difficult. Therefore, it requires planning, patience and sometimes fundraising on behalf of the schools before before they hire us.

Furthermore school green committees, comprised of parents and teachers, are popping up all over the place. The committees are great if they are open to learning how to implement sustainability in new ways. However in some cases the committees are formed to make change from the inside only without bringing in a consultant or outside research.

EP: What does an “Obama generation” of kids mean to you? How does it impact the purpose of Greenfox schools?

KVH: I love this term. The children who are raised in this generation are definitely more worldly, tech-savvy, and communications-savvy. They know what global warming is. They are ready to tell you all about the wonders of the presidential election. They love clothes. They are on Facebook. They want to save the world, and they want to have 500 friends while doing it.

In my mind, the risks of this generation are that children may become so wrapped up in technology and unauthentic forms of communication, such as texting, e-mailing, and IM’g, that genuine people skills will diminish.

It is ironic, but there is the risk that as we become more connected, we become less connected in the ways that truly matter. For example, while our blackberry allows us to stay connected to e-mail, news, and the internet 24/7, if we have it on during family-time or out to coffee with a friend then we do not allow ourselves to connect whole-heartedly to that person. We do not allow ourselves to be in the moment 100% because a part of us is ready to break that connection at any moment to read a text-message. If we are aware of that reality, though, I think we can find a healthy balance.

With this in mind, it is my goal with Greenfox to help children develop interpersonal skills through sensory orientation, and to put that in the context of sustainability.

I think it’s important for kids to realize that “environment” is not just this word you put in some box or isolated category. “Environment” is part of the greater term “sustainability,” which teaches children that the environment is connected to our homes, to our restaurants, to our banks, to our neighboring countries, and to each other as individual people.

EP: What are Greenfox’s plans for 2009?  For the ‘Obama generation’ of kids beyond 2009 ?

KVH: We plan to continue consulting at schools, performing environmental audits based on the Greenfox5, giving workshops, teaching curriculum to K-12 schools, and debuting our magazine, Greenfox Kids! in April. Growth is important to us, but we believe in starting small and doing something well before doing more.

More information about Greenfox Schools can be found at www.greenfoxschools.com

Image credit: Greenfox Schools

After a time of inquiry, now is the time for action, and France will be present at the forefront of the fight for human rights in the 21st century. The environmental new deal is an unprecedented democratic process. The role of the State is essentially to facilitate collective action. Its mission is to foster synergy between common and sometimes competing causes. After several weeks of debate one thing is clear: dialogue works and solutions exist.

Stirring indeed. But what makes this program so exceptional? The multilateral nature of the first phase, and the democratic or collective nature of the second, according to Borloo, adding that France can lead the way for the rest of the world by fashioning a sustainable society. "As both producers and consumers we will be subject to major changes, but those changes represent an opportunity for our economy, our health and our children." Sustainable living and economic growth are not incompatible. "By protecting the environment we prepare our companies for the economic competition of the future, we improve our quality of life, and we prevent illnesses caused by pollution."

More grand statements. There is a sense of deja vu. And I cannot help but ask, as I have been asking repeatedly over the last few weeks, is there any substance behind the hype?

Within a week of taking office last Spring, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a meeting on sustainable development and the environment. The gathering marked the beginning of the larger program that constitutes the "New Deal." In the first phase of the program, members from different sectors of society were assembled in six working groups that convened over the summer, with each group focusing on a different environmental issue. Representatives of NGOs, companies, unions, local councils and government bodies joined scientists and other specialized experts to confer on the status quo and to draft a plan of action.

The novelty lies in the diversity of the participants. Individuals and interest groups who are normally at loggerheads with one another were brought to the same negotiating table. Each delegate was equal in status with the next, and could contribute fully to the proceedings.

For example, working group number one was focused on climate change and energy needs. Jean Jouzel and Nicholas Stern were co-presidents of the group. Jouzel is an eminent French geochemist and climatologist who has carried out extensive research on climate change in Antarctica and Greenland; Stern is a prominent British economist and author of the renowned "Stern Review," a report which presents the impact of climate change on the global economy.

The NGO camp for group one consisted of delegates from international alliances such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as well as envoys from national environmental groups. The employee camp was composed of representatives from different labor unions, including engineers, railway workers, technicians, and white-collar workers. The employer camp was comprised of leaders from various business associations, both general confederations and industry-specific alliances such as the Union of Chemical Manufacturers, and the Federation of Road Transportation. Finally, the state camp consisted of directors of government bodies such as the National Forestry Office and the Energy and Environment Agency.

It is hardly surprising that the government website features interviews with delegates who are by and large satisfied with the process and the outcome of the working groups. They admit that the challenges were great, the stakes were high, and there was a considerable time constraint, but they also refer to lively debate, a genuine exchange, progress and consensus. Delegates’ observations and remarks featured on an NGO website are much more subdued.

Bernard Cressens, program director at WWF France, participated in the workshops devoted to the subject of greening French agriculture. No one boycotted the meeting, Cressens says. A coalition of NGOs was even able to distribute a list of suggestions for use during one of the sessions. But as soon as the group began to focus on the details of a particular matter, someone, often a representative from the French Ministry of Agriculture, always raised an objection. "So — reduce the use of pesticides, yes that’s a good idea but it’s impossible; increase the percentage of organic farming in France, yes but is there the market for it; defend domestic biodiversity yes, well maybe, but…"

Olivier Louchard, a member of Climate Action Network, attended several workshops dedicated to questions of transportation and methods of reducing CO2 emissions. While he feels that the discussions were "relatively constructive," and some promising proposals were made, he was troubled by the time constraints, calling them "completely unrealistic." "It’s not possible to establish a national climate plan in only two months and certainly not one that can be implemented by the current government over the next five years." So Louchard wonders whether the government might not have its own plan of action, one that will be followed irrespective of what emerges from the working groups and the public debate.

Last week each working group drew up a report, outlining the conclusions of their discussions and providing suggestions for immediate, mid-term and long-term actions. The reports were presented at the conference on Thursday, and the second phase of the "new deal" was launched: the public debate. Anyone can participate in the debate, either by attending one of the regional meetings scheduled across the country from October 5 to 19, or by visiting the government website set up specifically for the occasion. The website is hosting a forum where the French people can leave comments on any of the reports, which are available in full and condensed versions. They can also take the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with one another.

Borloo concluded the conference by saying it has not yet been proven that another type of economic growth is possible. "But if all parts of society work together, if each day every one of us makes the right choices, if at every moment and in every aspect of our lives we vote for sustainable alternatives, then it is my conviction," he said, "that it is possible." Thus France can provide a model both in Europe and around the world, of a healthy growing and sustainable economy.

Yes, sounds great. And no, I’m not being sarcastic, or at least not regarding the general idea of the whole thing. The very fact that the working groups convened, engaged in dialogue and presented their reports, is an accomplishment in itself. The forum for public debate represents a unique opportunity for French citizens to participate and thereby hopefully become more engaged in the transformation toward sustainable living.

But, Borloo and company have cried green, twice in one month. There was the promise of the first eco-friendly Rugby World Cup. Then there was the promise of the ultra-cool green techno parade. In both cases, the government ministry and the organizing committees vowed to take actions that were entirely within the realm of the possible. So, if a promise to install proper recycling facilities at a sports stadium or along the route of a music parade cannot be kept, how can the pledge to revolutionize an entire society be taken seriously?

Image source: UMBC edu

Environmental "New Deal" French Government Website

Alliance for the Planet

EP: How does your experience teaching influence the Greenfox mission?

KVH: I believe in teaching children about the five senses -  sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. I believe in incorporating sensory orientation into subject teaching as much as possible. I believe that children are naturally inclined towards this direction, more so perhaps than adults. By teaching them to explicitly engage their senses in the fullest way possible, children learn to be more self-aware, and more aware of others’ needs.  A child who is tuned in to the world around him develops compassion and a sharpened sense of understanding.

Ultimately this process helps my students develop stronger interpersonal skills, because they understand the depth of interconnectedness among people, and eventually, among industries, economies, and cultures.

The truth about globalization, including depletion of natural resources, will require that the most intelligent decisions pay attention to both the details and the big picture, and find as much of a balance as possible. That’s what sustainability is all about.

It is my experience as a teacher that sensory orientation allows decision-makers to feel as well as think.

I realize now, more than ever, the importance of schools as community-educators, a topic I recently wrote about for our blog. Schools educate their communities because children are connected to families and parents, who are in turn connected to various industries and cultures. And so the network grows.

EP: Is “Gree” a trend in schools? Is “Sustainability” a trend?

KVH: This is a great question. It is true that “green” is catching on in schools, particularly because children are interested in and sensitive to the issues of global warming, and because many teachers are activists or passionate about change in their own right. However, I would not call it a trend because that suggests it might be a passing vogue.

The sustainability movement or green revolution is here to stay because the overuse of resources—which is at the heart of the environmental problem—is a problem that affects every person, and cannot be easily reversed. Furthermore, as the definition of sustainability suggests, environmental degradation is intrinsically linked to all economic sectors, and all parts of the world. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest to create systems that can sustain themselves over long periods of time and with minimal harm to the planet.

EP: Please describe your program - is it more “Green Building” focused?  Or “Green Education”focused? Or does it help schools to go green in their administrative practices?

KVH: Greenfox is both Green Building focused and Green Education focused.

Our audits look at the building design and internal systems and make recommendations for service providers and products. We do not, however, implement the physical building changes, meaning we do not install actual solar panels or plant green roofs.

We also design our own sustainability curriculum, and have programs that teach students, teachers, and administrators how to implement a sustainability initiative, such as how to run a school-wide composting system, how to run an energy-efficient classroom, and how to implement a school-wide sustainability pledge.

EP: How many schools have you visited vs. how many are you targeting? Public schools? Private schools? National Schools? International schools?

KVH: Since our inception in March last year, we have worked with 3 private schools, and consulted informally with 14 schools, public and private included. We are working directly with schools in the Boston area, but educators read our blog across the country, and we receive e-mails and requests from schools nationwide.

Last May we conducted a Greenfox Schools National Market Survey, in which we polled hundreds of teachers, administrators, and educators across the country on the subject of greening schools. We were excited by the results that suggested a large percent are highly interested in sustainability. Teachers repeatedly noted that they want to make change but feel like they don’t know where to start or where to get the resources for their classrooms. Similarly, administrators responded that they didn’t know where to start in the process of “greening” their school, but wanted to make change happen through green building, operating systems, and student education.

Looking ahead, we’d like to help city school districts implement the Greenfox5. Our aim is to generate widespread change, and public school districts contain multiple schools.

EP: Is there a difference in perceptions or attitudes towards the importance of green education in private vs. public schools?

KVH: I have not observed a difference in attitude among public and private school teachers. Rather, students and teachers are both very excited and think going green is important. However it is harder among the administrations, because there is more red tape to cut through before schools can say “yes” and move forward with a sustainability initiative.

The good news is that it gets easier for administrators to say “yes” when they realize that a school-wide sustainability initiative not only benefits children and the environment but also saves money in the long-term.

EP: How easy or difficult is it to get teachers on board?  Who supports you in this mission? The school administration?  The State?  The Dept of Environment? Parents?

Teachers are great. Like myself, most teachers are in the classroom in the first place because they care about children and are passionate about what they do. The teachers I know give so much energy and go above and beyond what is asked of them to make life better for children. It is no surprise then that some of the greatest advocates of green schools are teachers.

Overall various people—parents, children, teachers, administrators and city officials, support us.

EP: As an Ecopreneurist, what are the challenges or benefits of your target market?

KVH: The challenge, as perhaps with any project, is getting enough people to say “yes” before we can come in and be hired to do an audit, give a presentation, or teach.

For public schools in particular, money is not always easy to come by. Budgets are drawn up early in the year, so finding money mid-way through the year to finance a sustainability initiative is difficult. Therefore, it requires planning, patience and sometimes fundraising on behalf of the schools before before they hire us.

Furthermore school green committees, comprised of parents and teachers, are popping up all over the place. The committees are great if they are open to learning how to implement sustainability in new ways. However in some cases the committees are formed to make change from the inside only without bringing in a consultant or outside research.

EP: What does an “Obama generation” of kids mean to you? How does it impact the purpose of Greenfox schools?

KVH: I love this term. The children who are raised in this generation are definitely more worldly, tech-savvy, and communications-savvy. They know what global warming is. They are ready to tell you all about the wonders of the presidential election. They love clothes. They are on Facebook. They want to save the world, and they want to have 500 friends while doing it.

In my mind, the risks of this generation are that children may become so wrapped up in technology and unauthentic forms of communication, such as texting, e-mailing, and IM’g, that genuine people skills will diminish.

It is ironic, but there is the risk that as we become more connected, we become less connected in the ways that truly matter. For example, while our blackberry allows us to stay connected to e-mail, news, and the internet 24/7, if we have it on during family-time or out to coffee with a friend then we do not allow ourselves to connect whole-heartedly to that person. We do not allow ourselves to be in the moment 100% because a part of us is ready to break that connection at any moment to read a text-message. If we are aware of that reality, though, I think we can find a healthy balance.

With this in mind, it is my goal with Greenfox to help children develop interpersonal skills through sensory orientation, and to put that in the context of sustainability.

I think it’s important for kids to realize that “environment” is not just this word you put in some box or isolated category. “Environment” is part of the greater term “sustainability,” which teaches children that the environment is connected to our homes, to our restaurants, to our banks, to our neighboring countries, and to each other as individual people.

EP: What are Greenfox’s plans for 2009?  For the ‘Obama generation’ of kids beyond 2009 ?

KVH: We plan to continue consulting at schools, performing environmental audits based on the Greenfox5, giving workshops, teaching curriculum to K-12 schools, and debuting our magazine, Greenfox Kids! in April. Growth is important to us, but we believe in starting small and doing something well before doing more.

More information about Greenfox Schools can be found at www.greenfoxschools.com

Image credit: Greenfox Schools